


Lost and Found

by CelticGrace



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Mass Effect: Andromeda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-08 22:52:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11091585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticGrace/pseuds/CelticGrace
Summary: It should have been simple: pick up a schematic her father needed, hand it off to the smuggler who would deliver it to him, go back to ignoring the rest of the galaxy.  But Libby Ryder should have known nothing was ever so simple on Omega.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my fantabulous betas: pixelatrix and joufancyhuh

_ Take a left out of Afterlife’s back exit.  Take a right at the third alley, then a left, another right, or was it a left? _

_ Shit. _

Libby Ryder was lost.  Not that that was hard to do on Omega.  The whole station was bathed in eternal twilight, lit only by the occasional neon sign.

Leaning against a grimy wall, she opened her omni-tool to look at the directions to the transport station where she was supposed to meet her contact, a smuggler who would deliver the schematic she’d acquired for her father’s grand project.

Shit.  Shit. Shit.  She’d missed a turn somewhere, but she didn’t trust her non-existent sense of direction to help her retrace her steps back to Afterlife.  She’d just get more lost, and Omega was  _ not _ the place for a lone ex-Alliance peace keeper to get lost.

She sent a quick message to her contact, letting him know she would be late, if she ever showed up at all.  She wasn’t sure why they had to meet at the transport station instead of Afterlife.  If she’d been smarter, she’d have insisted on the ‘safety’ of the bar over the seclusion of the station, and then she wouldn’t be hopelessly lost. 

Hindsight and all that jazz.

She saw movement just beyond the orange glow cast by her omni-tool.  She wasn’t surprised.  She’d suspected someone had been following her ever since she’d left the clinic where she’d gotten the schematic.  If anything, she was surprised they hadn’t made their presence known earlier.

Her stalker inched closer and the glint of a gun shone in the dim light.  

As if the day couldn’t get any worse.

Not taking her eyes off of the gun, she closed her ‘tool and slowly moved away from her pursuer.

“Ryder! Duck!”

Startled by the sound of her name, Libby instead spun around, only to find a second man with a gun running from the opposite end of the alley.  

“You stay out of this, Vidal,” snarled the one who’d been following her.  “That schematic is mine!”

“Dream on, jackass!” Libby retorted as she turned back toward him, hoping he’d back off if she introduced her steel-toed boot to his nuts.

She never got the chance, as the two men chose that moment to play Fastest Gun in the Terminus, and she ended up in the crossfire.  A white hot pain radiated from her arm moments before another bullet whizzed past her head and into the aggressor’s chest.  

She screamed as the man grabbed onto both of her arms as he fell backwards, taking her along for the ride.

She heard a few choice curses in Spanish as the man called Vidal hurried over.  

“Are you all right?” he asked, crouched next to her and reached a hand out, she supposed to help her sit up.

Libby winced and ignored the helping hand, dislodging herself from the other man’s grip and slowly pushing herself up to sit against the wall behind her.  

“Do I  _ look _ all right?” She glared at him.  “You shot me!”

Light from his own omni-tool’s flashlight bathed her arm in a pale yellow glow.  “‘Tis but a scratch,” he said, gentle fingers prodding the area around the wound.

“Did… did you just quote Monty Python at me?”  

He grinned.  “A lady with good taste.”

Libby rolled her eyes.  “My brother’s the Monty Python fan, not me.  I prefer space operas.”

“I think you’re in one.”

“So I noticed.”  She shifted around, making an attempt at standing up, and nearly bit her tongue in half as pain shot through her arm.  “Ok, so this has been… not fun at all.  I need to… go.”

“Perhaps more than a scratch then,” Vidal mused when she fell back against the wall in defeat.  “Would you accept an apology by way of getting your arm fixed?”

She narrowed her gaze on him.  “Depends.  Are you a doctor?  Are you… oh fuck it.”  She held up her uninjured hand.  “Help me, Oh Strange One.  You’re my only hope.”

He chuckled as he carefully hauled her to her feet.  “Ah Star Wars, the ultimate space opera.  I’m Reyes Vidal, by the way.”

“Libby Ry–”  She pitched forward a second time as she took a step and tripped over the dead man.  “Shit.”

An arm quickly wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against a lightly-armored chest, the only thing between her and another face-full of blood and guts.  

She turned to face her rescuer, his arm still lightly resting at her waist.  “Thanks.  I swear I’m not usually this clumsy.  Hopelessly lost, definitely, but not clumsy.”

“We were warned you had a penchant for losing your way in the dark.”

“I’m sorry?”

Reyes’ eyes twinkled in the dim light.  “When Alec Ryder contacted my boss, he said whoever took the job needed patience and a good sense of direction because his daughter had little of one and none of the other.”

“Of course he did.”  Libby was going to have a chat with her father when her self-imposed exile was over.  “Well, he’s not  _ wrong _ .”  She turned teasing eyes on Reyes.  “I’m just sorry he didn’t consider it a priority to request someone who was a decent shot.”

Reyes winced.  “I deserve that.”

“Y’think?”

“Let’s get you patched up.”  He guided her around until they were facing the way he’d come.  “My shuttle’s right around the corner.”

Libby blinked in confusion.  “Why?”

“You’re not nearly as lost as you think you are.  I’m parked at our rendezvous point.”

“Oh.  Well that explains your timely entrance to this horror show.   But not your misguided shots.”

“I saved your ass didn’t I?”

“You. Shot.  _ Me _ .  ‘Sides, I had everything under control.”

Reyes shook his head with a laugh.  “If that’s what you want to call ‘under control.’”

Libby ignored him.  “So you two seemed pretty… familiar with each other.  Who was that guy?”

“Another smuggler. We’d been around about the same time, but he’d never gotten any high-paying jobs.  And he wasn’t even considered for this one.”

“So he decided to take matters into his own hands.”

“Exactly.” He paused a moment to unlock the shuttle and stepped in, holding out a hand to help her up.  “Look, I don’t wish to sound ungrateful for the job,” he said as he helped her find a comfortable position in the co-pilot’s seat, “but why am I here?  Would your father not prefer you deliver the schematic yourself?”

“Of course, and usually I do.  But he’s not the sole reason I’m on Omega, and I’m not leaving anytime soon.  All right, technically he  _ is _ the reason I’m here, but not for the schematic.  That was sort of a ‘as long as you’re there would you mind picking this up?’ sort of thing.”

“Oh?”

Libby dodged his curiosity with another question of her own.  “Where are we going?  Thought you said you were gonna fix my arm.”

“A doctor I know and trust.”  He flashed her a thousand watt smile.  “I never said  _ I _ would fix it myself.”

She gave him a sidelong look.  “Are you sure?”

“Positive. I don’t fuck around with gunshots.  Too much can go wrong.”

He wasn’t wrong.  If their positions had been reversed, Libby was positive she’d be taking him to a clinic as well, though she was at a disadvantage.  The only doctor she knew, and trusted, on Omega – the woman who had given her the schematic – was a scientist, not a medical doctor.  And while Libby had had training in field medicine from her Alliance days, she too was a scientist first and foremost.  She wasn’t nearly confident enough to remove a bullet unless it was a literal life or death situation.  Shots to the arm hurt like a sonofabitch but they weren’t life-threatening.

“You still with me, Ryder?”

Libby blinked and stared up at the face of concern hovering over her.  “What? What’s wrong?”

“You looked like you’d drifted away there for a minute.”  Reyes held a hand out to her once more.  “We’re here.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy hell y'all are amazing! Thank you so much for all the kudos, comments, etc. :D

“Doc?” Reyes pounded a fist on the door of the clinic.  “You still here?”

The door slid part way open after a moment and a male voice said, “Reyes?  I wasn’t expecting you until–”

“Yes, yes, poker night.” Reyes put a hand on the door and pushed.  “It’s an emergency, Ryota.  Gunshot.”

“Shit.”  

Libby couldn’t agree more.  It was a shit situation and she felt like shit and… well shit, now the floor was moving toward her.

“Oh no you don’t.”  Reyes pulled her back up and led her into the clinic as he gave his friend a summary of the last half hour.

Ryota’s eyebrows raised significantly at the conclusion of the story.  “ _You_ shot her?”

Reyes groaned.  “Don’t you start.  I’ve already gotten enough of it from her.  Every other sentence has been some variation of ‘you shot me.’”

“Well, you _did_ ,” Libby interjected, albeit weaker than her previous rants on the subject.  

“See?”

Ryota rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Libby.  He smiled and held out a hand.  “Ryota Nakamoto.”

She shook his proffered hand and gave him as much of a smile as she could manage.  “Libby Ryder.  Wait.  Would you happen to have any relation to Aimi Nakamoto?”

“My mother.” His smile grew wider.  “So you’ve been to see her, finally.  She’s talked of little else than your father’s project for a week now.”

“Trust me, I know the feeling.” Libby sighed.  “Anyway, yeah, I left her clinic not long before… this,” she said with a wave toward her injured arm.

Ryota instantly switched back to doctor mode.  “Let’s take a look then.”  He poked and prodded her arm for a moment, much the same way Reyes had, and then opened his omni-tool to do a scan.  “Hmm.”

“Hmm?” Libby parroted. “What’s ‘hmm’ mean in doctor speak?”

“Should be a simple extraction,” he said, rummaging around the small room for various instruments.  “I’ll use a numbing agent and you shouldn’t feel a thing.”

“No.”

More raised eyebrows, from both men. “What do you mean by no?” Reyes asked.

“I mean no numbing agent,” Libby said firmly.  “I hate losing any of my senses, for any reason.”

Ryota frowned.  “Are you saying you don’t even get novacane before you get a cavity filled?”

She gave them a lopsided grin.  “What cavities?”

“Have you ever been shot before?” Reyes asked.  “It’s going to–”   

“I’m not fucking naive, Reyes,” she snapped.  “I know it’s gonna hurt.”  She blew out a slow breath.  “I was on Eden Prime.” The words came out as little more than a mumble, but Libby didn’t miss the look exchanged between the two men. “So yes, I’ve been shot before, and it wasn’t in the arm either.”

Ryota cleared his throat after several moments of tense silence.  “On that note, I think we should get started.”

* * *

“Was it really necessary to squeeze my hand so hard?” Reyes groused two hours later, loosely shaking the sore appendage as he set the shuttle’s navigation for Libby’s apartment.  

“Yes, yes it was.” She didn’t regret it one bit.  All right, maybe she’d squeezed just a hair tighter than had been absolutely necessary to alleviate her own pain.  But after all, what was a sore hand – not broken or sprained – compared to a shot in the arm?

“You’re about to say things again, aren’t you?”

She rolled her eyes.  “That _is_ how one carries on a conversation, Reyes.”

“I meant about–”

“I know what you meant, and I might have been _thinking_ them, but I’m done saying them aloud.  For now.”

He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “thank God for small miracles.”

“So, why are you sticking around?  Don’t you have a delivery to make?”

“First of all, taking you to your apartment when you’re hopped up on pain pills is just the gentlemanly thing to do.”  He shrugged easily.  “But I _am_ staying a few extra days, waiting on a couple of other clients.  Fuel isn’t cheap.  I’d rather make one trip to Earth than keep going back and forth.”

He had a point, Libby supposed; she was just getting slightly tired of seeing his stupid face and hearing his stupid voice.  Or maybe she was just tired in general.  Even without the confrontation in the alley, it had been a long day.

They fell into an oddly companionable silence for the rest of the ride, during which Libby found herself wondering what a man like Reyes did for fun. She shook her head to get rid of the intrusive thought.  

_No.  Absolutely not.  You  are not getting drawn in with this one._

She’d had one too many questionable relationships in her few short years in the dating universe.  Besides, this particular “relationship” should have ended hours ago with her handing over the schematic and him hopping into his ship while she went back to drink herself under the table at Afterlife.

He sure as hell shouldn’t have been standing with her outside her door.

“I…” She shuffled her feet, annoyed at the bout of nerves that seemed to have come from nowhere.  “Thanks for all this, everything after the alley I mean.”

He shrugged. “It really was the least I could do.  But don’t think I’m leaving you just yet.”

She bristled.  “That so?”

“Ryota made me promise to keep an eye on you for tonight.  And if you refuse, I’m supposed to bring you back to him so he can keep an eye on you himself.”

“Un-fucking-believable.”  Libby rolled her eyes.  “I don’t need a babysitter.  I–”

“Sorry, Ryder.  Doctor’s orders.”

She glowered at him as she blindly fumbled with the door code.  “I hate you.”

“I know.” He flashed her another brilliant smile and gestured toward the door.  “Shall we?”

“Fine.  Make yourself at home, I guess,” she said, gesturing around the sparsely decorated living room while she made a beeline for the sanctuary of her bedroom.  “I’m gonna take a shower.”

“Wait.”  

She ignored him and kept walking until…

“Are you limping?”

 _Fuck._  Libby knew she could just pretend she hadn’t heard the question and go on to her room.  But given what sounded like genuine concern in Reyes’ voice, she knew she had to tell him the truth.  Whether she liked it or not, he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and he _had_ saved her life.  It was only fair he should know he hadn’t caused more damage.

She sighed and spun on her heel, swaying as the sudden change in direction and the painkillers made her momentarily dizzy.  

She regained her balance and gestured around the room again.  “Sit.”  

Reyes took a seat in the lone armchair, leaning forward with his arms resting on his knees and an apprehensive expression on his face.

Libby stalked over to the couch and sat at one end, curling her right leg under her while the left stretched out along the cushions.  “It’s nothing you did, I promise.”  She leaned forward to massage her left calf.  “It’s a… war wound.”

“Are you sure?  You weren’t limping before, when we left the clinic.”

She snorted a laugh.  “Am I sure it’s a war wound?  Pretty damn. I _was_ there when it happened.  And I actually was limping before, but those painkillers almost knocked me on my ass for a few minutes there, so I was leaning on you so much, you didn’t notice.”

“And now?”

She shrugged.  “Now I’m home, or what passes for home at the moment, exhausted, and I just don’t give a fuck.”

“Then can I ask…?” Reyes trailed off before he’d actually asked anything, but it was clear what he meant.

Libby leaned into the back of the couch, one arm slung over the top. “You remember when you two were horrified that I didn’t want a numbing agent and I said I’d been shot before?”  

He nodded slowly, an unreadable look crossing his face that nearly unnerved her.

She cracked her neck and all of her knuckles before she continued.  She’d only ever told one person, her brother Topher, about Eden Prime.  Her parents had gotten their information from the doctors.  

“I was with the Alliance, but I wasn’t part of any of the units that had been assigned there.  Instead, I was ‘on loan’ to one of my college professors who was in the colony to study the Prothean ruins that had been found.  Still, I’d been minimally armed at all times, just in case.  We hadn’t expected something as huge as a geth attack, of course, more like what happened earlier, but between scientists and archaeologists.”

Reyes still said nothing, but the unreadable expression cracked momentarily as he apparently found something amusing about the idea of scientists and archaeologists picking each other off over research and discoveries.

“I’d been at one of the camps, cleaning some of the potential artefacts we’d found, when several explosions went off, gunshots and… screaming.”  Libby shook her head. “Anyway, I armed myself to the teeth and went outside.  Took down half a dozen geth and then started up a ladder to the roof, to get a survey of everything – not that visibility was that high to begin with – and to set up a makeshift sniper’s nest.”

“And this is the part where you say you never made it that far.”

She huffed a laugh.  “Right in one.  I was about halfway up the ladder when one of a hail of bullets hit my calf; another just barely grazed my shoulder.  Just a burn scar there.  I tried to keep going but I couldn’t, fell backwards off the ladder and hit my head when I landed.  Knocked me out and I woke up on the Citadel 2 days later.”

“Jesus.” Reyes hesitated before he asked, “And your professor?  The other scientists?”

“I know Shepard and her team found a couple of scientists huddled in a building at another site, a handful of colonists as well.  And Dr. Kennedy survived, but only just.  He’s still recovering.  The rest… There weren’t many survivors.”

A deafening silence threatened to close in on them; neither of them knew what to say next.  Finally, Reyes said, “Eden Prime wasn’t that long ago.  Shouldn’t you still be doing physical therapy and stuff?”

“Wasn’t entirely my choice.  I _was_ in therapy, and then the Alliance decided to part ways with my dad, over his research.  Apparently they decided the apples didn’t fall far from the tree, so Topher and I were booted as well.”  Libby shrugged, the gesture more casual than she felt.  “My parents were looking into other therapy programs when I decided I needed to get away for awhile, take some time for myself and think about what I was going to do next.  So I hopped the first freighter headed for Omega and… here we are.”

“Here we are,” Reyes repeated, almost to himself.  

“Now that we’ve established that you’re not the reason for the limp, can I go take a shower?” Libby asked after another few beats of silence.  She was desperate to get away.  She’d gone from wanting to rid herself of Reyes to practically baring her soul to him in a matter of half an hour.

_Shit.  Please don’t fall for him.  Please don’t fall for him.  Please don’t–_

Reyes laughed.  “It’s your apartment, Ryder.  Do what you like.”

Libby rolled her eyes and stood up, heading once more for her bedroom.  She turned back at the door.  “You still gonna be sitting there when I come back?”

Another dazzling Reyes smile.  “Count on it.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos, comments, bookmarks, etc. Y'all are amazing :)
> 
> And thanks to pixelatrix and ElegantN7 for beta'ing this chapter :D

Libby woke to the shriek of Topher’s unique vidchat ringtone blasting from her omni-tool.  She tried to roll over to shut it off, or answer it if she must, but her body protested.  A crick in her neck, her injured arm and leg stiff and sore, and what felt like the hangover from hell.  Her omni-tool continued to wail as she gingerly sat up and leaned over to the coffee table but the distance was just a touch too great and she promptly crashed to the floor face-first.

_ Fuck. My. Life. _

She decided trying to get back up at the moment was hopeless, so she reached for her ‘tool and made herself as comfortable as was possible on the concrete floor before she finally answered the hail.

“Whoa,” Topher said as they connected and the picture cleared.  “You look like shit.”

Libby rolled her eyes.  “Hello to you too, dear brother.  And for the record, I  _ feel _ like shit, so…”

“Stay out too late drinking again?”

“I wish.  I’d probably feel better if I had.”  She begrudgingly recounted the events of the previous day, realizing as she did so that Reyes was nowhere to be found.  She was all set to rant about his leaving without saying anything when she noticed a note set under her bottle of pain pills: 

> _ Went for coffee.  Try not to hurt yourself while I’m out.  – Reyes _

Libby rolled her eyes again.   _ Too late for that _ .

“Let me get this straight,” Topher said, interrupting her thoughts.  “You willingly got into a shuttle, twice, with the guy who shot you, and then you let him spend the night in your apartment?”  

“Well, when you put it like that, I suppose it sounds a bit idiotic.”

“A  _ bit _ ?” He shook his head.  “Mom and Dad find out, they’ll skin you alive.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, little brother.” She shrugged. “Besides, I was going to have to meet up with him anyway.  Or did you miss the part where he’s the one bringing the schematic to Dad?”

“No I didn’t miss it.  You should tell Dad to ask for a refund.”

“Yeah that’s not gonna happen.”  Libby glared at her twin.  “Is there a reason you called at the unreasonable hour of… whatever unreasonable hour it is?”

“It’s 1100, sis.  Not unreasonable at all.   And does a guy need a  _ reason _ to call his sister?”

She shrugged.  “With most people, no.  With you, absolutely.”

“Brat.”

“Jerk.”  She shifted around, trying to find a more comfortable position.  “Well?”

Topher’s demeanor changed from playful to somber in an instant.  “It’s Mom,” he said quietly.  “The doctors said there’s nothing else they can do.”

_ Fuck. _

Libby swallowed around the lump in her throat.  “I’ll be on the next transport out.  My bag is already packed.”

Topher nodded but said nothing.  

“Are you home?”

Another silent nod.

“Dad?”

“Locked in his office, working on that goddamn AI,” Topher spat out.  “He should be here with Mom, not  _ working _ .”

“Topher, you know that’s how he copes.  He’s trying to find a way to help her.”

“Well, it’s not, is it?  Nothing’s helped and apparently nothing will.”

Topher disconnected the chat without another word.

Libby sighed as she tossed aside her omni-tool and curled in on herself, ignoring the twinge of pain in her arm and the stiffness that still hadn’t worked its way out of her calf.  

While they’d both followed their father into the Alliance, Topher had done so to get away.  He’d never understood the rest of the family’s obsession with science.  As a result, he was bitter, more so than Libby was, that their father’s AI research had been the reason they’d been kicked from the Alliance.  And yet she had been the one who’d run away.  

_ And now I’ve got to go back.  At least they’ll be worried about Mom and ignore me. _

_ Except Mom.  She’ll still worry.  She’ll always worry about us, until her dy–  _

_ Fuck.  No thinking about her dying. She’ll be okay.  Dad will find a way.  Maybe the schematic will help. _

Her thoughts still jumbled, Libby stumbled to her feet as the chime went off on her front door.  She frowned in confusion for half a second when she opened the door to find Reyes standing on the other side, two cups of coffee in his hand and a bag of pastries between his teeth.

Briefly wondering how he’d managed to ring the door chime, she took the bag and a coffee and went back to curl up on the couch.

“I see you didn’t quite manage to avoid injury while I was gone,” he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement but his tone tinged with concern.  He set the remaining coffee on the table and sat beside her on the couch.  “Or do you routinely have cuts spontaneously appear in your sleep?”

“What?”  She frowned.  “What the hell are you… shit,” she muttered as she reached up to feel blood dripping from a cut on her forehead.  “Stupid ass, didn’t even tell me I was bleeding.”

Reyes quirked an eyebrow.  “I’m sorry?”

Libby shook her head with an exasperated sigh.  “The only reason I’m awake right now is because my brother called.  I was only half-conscious when I reached for my omni-tool so I misjudged the distance between the couch and the table and I landed on my face on the floor.  So my face was bleeding the whole time we were talking and he didn’t bother to mention it.”

“Ouch.”

Libby shrugged.  “He’s a jerk sometimes, but to be fair, he had a lot on his mind when he called.”

“No, I meant landing on your face,” Reyes said, the corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly.  “Do you have a first aid kit?  That’s not gonna stop bleeding on its own.”

Libby waved a hand toward her bedroom.  “Somewhere under the bathroom sink, I think.”

She took advantage of his absence to retrieve her omni-tool to begin a search for transport off of Omega that wasn’t  _ entirely _ sketchy.  

_ Why the fuck did I decide to come to this place, before Dad asked?  Ugh. _

“Going somewhere?” Reyes asked as he resumed his seat beside her, first aid kit in hand.  “Thought you were in self-imposed exile.”

“Change of plans,” she said softly.  “Family… thing.”

“Thing as in emergency?” he asked, shifting from the couch to crouch between it and the coffee table.  “Lay down for a minute.”

“Why would I do that?”

“I was under the impression you might want to stop the bleeding?”

“I… fine.”  She rolled her eyes and flopped down on her back.  “Happy?”

He laughed.  “Are you always this cranky?”

“Only when I haven’t had my coffee,” she said, pouting as she gazed longingly at the full cup just out of her reach.

“Only then?” he teased.

“And when annoying men ask me stupid questions.”

“All right, all right.” He held his hands up in surrender for a moment before he pressed a cloth against the cut.  “I won’t say another word.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and grinned up at him.  “Thank you.”

She closed her eyes and settled into the pillow, feeling more relaxed that she had since she’d arrived on Omega.  She’d nearly drifted off to sleep again when the strangely comforting pressure of Reyes’ fingers was replaced by a cold wet stinging sensation.

“What the shit?” Libby shot up and glared at Reyes, who was holding a small torn packet in one hand, an alcohol pad in the other.  

He looked thoroughly unapologetic.  “I had to clean it before I put the medi-gel on it.”

“Warn a girl before you do that next time!”

He smirked.  “There’s going to be a next time?”

“Didn’t you promise not to say another word?”

The smirk widened to a grin.  “I don’t remember there being a promise.”

She growled.  “Don’t you have somewhere else to be, like picking up other packages?”

“Already done, mostly.  I’m waiting on one more client and then I’m leaving tonight.”  He set the alcohol pad aside and broke open a medi-gel pack.  “Why?  You’re not looking to get rid of me, are you?”

She shook her head.  “I need you to take me with you.”

His eyebrow rose in surprise but his gaze never wavered from her face.  “You trust me to get you there in one piece?” he asked as he gently cupped her face in one hand while he applied the medi-gel with the other.

“Yes.  More than anyone else on this station anyway.”  She felt the lump reforming in her throat.  “Wouldn’t be going back, yet, if I didn’t have to.”

“Have to?” Reyes cleaned up the table and handed her the coffee cup closest to her.  “What do you mean you  _ have _ to?”

“My mom is… she’s a scientist specializing in biotics.  The continual exposure to Eezo made her sick and…” Tears prickled at the corners of Libby’s eyes and she impatiently brushed them away, pulling away from Reyes to curl up in the corner of the couch, hugging her knees to her chest.  “And now the doctors said there’s nothing left to try.  So, we’re all… we’re going back to spend as much time with her as we have left.”

Reyes said nothing, but after a couple of minutes, he moved back to the couch and gently pried the coffee cup from Libby’s hand to set it back on the table.  Several moments more and he put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  

That simple gesture was the crack that broke the dam.  

Libby practically collapsed against Reyes, everything that had weighed on her in the last month released in heaving sobs against his shoulder.  She hated that she kept showing so much of herself to him when they were still virtual strangers, but he didn’t seem to mind.  It wasn’t long before he’d wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as he dared, which only made her cry harder.

After what felt like an eternity, the tears slowed and eventually stopped, but neither of them moved.  Despite her annoyance with herself, Libby didn’t want the moment to end, which only annoyed her more.  

_ Now is not the time, especially with Mom and…  _

Libby finally pulled away, scrubbing a hand over her face.  “I’m sorry about that.  I don’t usually let emotions out around other people.”

Reyes sighed. “You can’t keep emotions bottled up, Ryder.  It’ll backfire on you every time.”

“Yeah, yeah.  And please, I think we might have been through enough shit in the last 24 hours that you can call me Libby.”

He grinned.  “Fair enough, Libby.”

She ignored the faint shiver that ran down her spine at the sound of her name on his lips and instead chugged the coffee that had been twice-abandoned.  “So um…”  She chewed her lip as she gathered her thoughts.  “If you’d still be willing to take me with you, though you never said in the first place, I’d pay you double whatever my dad was paying for the schematic.”

“Of course I’ll take you.” Reyes reached out to brush his thumbs across her cheeks, catching a few stray tears.  “But I don’t want your credits.”

“But–”

He shook his head.  “No arguments, Libby.  Just meet me at the upper bar in Afterlife, 1830. That’s where I’m meeting my last client before I can leave.  Okay?”

She nodded slightly, too preoccupied with his hands still on her face.  “Afterlife… bar… later.”

He laughed.  “Something like that.  I’ll send you the details so you won’t forget.”  He stood up then, snagging his coffee and a donut from the bag on the table.  “You’ll be all right by yourself today?”

She nodded again and gave him a faint smile as he walked to the door.  “Yeah.  And thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Topher Ryder: http://pin.it/l9PtO-7

**Author's Note:**

> Libby Ryder: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/357262182930752571/


End file.
